Fuel cell generates electricity and heat for the house
Published
They are highly efficient, low-emission and quiet: New fuel cell heating units generate heat and electrical energy as mini CHP units with over 90 percent efficiency. They have been tested extensively in detached and semi-detached houses, and their function and design have been improved step by step. The first units are regularly on the market. They can be operated with natural gas as well as with hydrogen and methane produced from renewable energies or biomass. Fuel cells can generate electricity decentrally and on demand and can be used either to relieve the load on the grid or independently of the grid.
Continue on: www.bine.info/...brennstoffzelle...
(the ESD info service was discontinued at the end of 2020)
Today, the Federal Government is presenting the first German report on the implementation of the Global Sustainability Goals. The report will be presented to the United Nations Forum on Sustainable Development in New York by Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, and Thomas Silberhorn, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Germany is thus one of the first countries to give an account of the implementation of the goals adopted in 2015.
Schwarzelühr-Sutter: "If all people worldwide lived like the Germans, we would need three planets. This shows that "business as usual" is not an option. We must change our lifestyles so that they respect the ecological limits of the Earth. The Sustainable Development Goals offer enormous opportunities for global environmental protection, for the preservation of peace and for healthier living conditions worldwide. It is about future-proof jobs, better education, respecting social standards and upholding human rights."
Thomas Silberhorn: "The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development must not remain a declaration on paper, but must be filled with life. The fight against extreme poverty and hunger and the protection of natural resources require a change of direction in all societies. In order for everyone to be able to live, some people must not live and work at the expense of others. This also has consequences for Germany. A global balance in economic, ecological and social relations is the goal of sustainable development. The Alliance for Sustainable Textiles launched by the BMZ is a practical example of this. Here, companies in the textile industry, non-governmental organisations and governments have joined forces to implement social and ecological improvements along the entire textile supply chain - from the cotton field to the hanger."
In order to achieve the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, the Federal Government is committed at both national and international level. The national challenges include, for example, gender equality, the protection of biodiversity or the energy transition, which also makes a significant contribution to the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement. Particular attention is paid to measures that not only have an impact in Germany, but at the same time serve the global common good.
Representatives of German civil society also participated in the preparation of the German implementation report. In New York, the German government is therefore presenting the report together with the Federation of German Industries, the German Trade Union Confederation, the German NGO Forum on Environment and Development and VENRO (Association for Development Policy and Humanitarian Aid).
Energiedienst's power-to-gas plant in Grenzach-Wyhlen is allowed to produce emission-free hydrogen from green electricity as of today. Photo: energiedienst.de
At a hydroelectric power plant operated by the energy company Energiedienst in Grenzach-Wylen, the production of green hydrogen has been running successfully for four months. The project produces 500 kilograms of hydrogen per day.
Hydrogen from hydropower: successful start for one of the largest power-to-gas plants in Germany to date. This is reported by the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW). The megawatt plant has been in operation for four months in April 2020 and is functioning reliably. A research electrolyser connected to it is also running successfully. The ZSW is coordinating the project. The operator of the commercial plant is the energy supplier Energiedienst AG.
The power-to-gas plant with an electrical connected load of one megawatt produces renewable hydrogen using electricity from the Rhine hydroelectric power plant in Wyhlen. Since it is not necessary to use the public electricity grid, grid fees and the EEG surcharge do not apply. In addition, high full load hours can be achieved because the hydropower is available practically around the clock. This further improves the economic efficiency and enables extensive operating experience to be gained quickly.
He said the plant has been running regularly since early December 2019 and has had 1,850 hours of operation since then. Previously, it was in trial operation. The monitoring system set up by the ZSW, which measures all essential components and subsystems, functions perfectly. The plant operates fully automatically in 24-hour operation both at full load and in various partial load conditions.
Efficiency of 66 percent
The ZSW monitors operation with the help of remote data transmission to Stuttgart and automated data evaluation. The overall efficiency of electricity to high-purity hydrogen compressed to 300 bar is currently up to 66 percent in relation to the calorific value of the gas. In addition, the researchers are investigating ageing effects and deriving potential improvements from the data.
So far, the plant has filled 62 trailers with hydrogen suitable for fuel cells. Each of these transportable containers holds around 300 kilograms. The plant can produce up to 500 kilograms of hydrogen per day. This is enough for an average daily mileage of more than 1,000 fuel cell cars.
Improved electrolysis
The research project docked to the commercial plant is also progressing positively. In a research plant, the scientists are testing improved electrolysis blocks with a maximum output of 300 kilowatts in parallel operation with the commercial plant. They should further reduce the price of hydrogen. But companies could also test and optimize components there.
Last year, the ZSW and its research partners already achieved an initial success during the test operation of the plant: with new electrode coatings, the researchers achieved 20 percent more power density compared to the electrolysis blocks of the industrial plant section. This means that less volume and material are required for the same output.
Goal: Halve hydrogen price
Since the investment costs are also based on the construction volume and the electrolysis units account for the largest share of costs in the conversion of renewable electricity at around 40 percent, progress in this area is automatically reflected in the price of hydrogen. For manufacturers of electrolysis plants, development is therefore an important factor for further cost reduction. The long-term goal of the ZSW researchers and Energiedienst engineers is to roughly halve the current production costs of electricity-based hydrogen.
The state of Baden-Württemberg supports the Lighthouse project with a total of 4.5 million euros. In 2019, a project based on this was selected by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology as one of the winners of the first round of the "Reallabore der Energiewende" ideas competition. A total of twelve partners are on board for this major project.
The new report to the CLUB OF ROME was presented to the public at a press conference in Berlin on 13 September. In addition to the authors, Federal Minister Dr Gerd Müller also spoke.
Read the whole article: www.globalmarshallplan.org/news/neuer-bericht-den-club-rome-berlin-vorgestellt
Soil is sealed with every new building and land for nature is thus used up. The German government now wants to more than halve land consumption over the next few years. Nicola Brockmüller from the Schleswig-Holstein Nature Conservation Foundation explains on DLF that this is also a good way of cooling the earth's climate and preventing flooding.
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